Freelancing platform Fiverr has made several accounts in Pakistan “unavailable” due to possible “internet disruptions”, workers using the site have said, while rights activists have lamented the issue.

A day ago, a body of internet service providers alleged that the government’s heightened efforts to monitor internet traffic had resulted in a significant nationwide slowdown of services.

Internet users have speculated that the disruptions were the result of a firewall being installed by the government to monitor and keep check on users. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), however, denied that the issue was caused by a firewall.

Last week, users had faced difficulties in accessing social media platforms — though X (formerly Twitter) has already been banned across the country for almost six months citing “security concerns”.

Three Fiverr users confirmed to Dawn.com that they received a notification from the platform that their profiles have been made “unavailable” to clients — seemingly aimed at preventing a user’s profile from receiving negative ratings as a result of inactivity due to possible internet disruptions.

However, a Fiverr user from Faisalabad said she did not receive any such notification, indicating that the platform’s action may be limited to certain cities.

“Last week, I received notification on my Fiverr account from Fiverr support telling me that my gigs are made unavailable to clients across the world because Fiverr came to know that there is internet interruption in Pakistan,” Sajid Hussain, a medical content writer based in Punjab, told Dawn.com.

Hussain shared screenshots of the email sent by Fiverr on August 1, which stated: “We understand that there may be internet disruptions in your area that might make it harder to keep your routine going.

“To make sure any unexpected order delays won’t hurt your ratings, we’re going ahead and temporarily setting your availability status and gig(s) as ‘unavailable’,” it added.

The statement clarified that the action by Fiverr would not negatively impact the freelancer’s ratings.

In case users were actually not facing any internet issues, the notification directed users to a guide on how to turn their availability back on.

Hussain said he was a doctor and worked part-time as a medical content writer via Fiverr.

“I personally knew many friends, juniors, and colleagues who are doctors, but are unemployed and they are using Fiverr to earn their livelihood,” he said.

While Fiverr assured freelancers that their ratings were not being impacted, Hussain claimed: “Recent interruption in the internet has badly affected connectivity especially when someone goes offline on Fiverr, it affects impression and less order from buyers. So yeah, it also affected me too.”

Aiza Shahid, a student from Islamabad, also told Dawn.com about receiving a notification that stated her “account status is considered ‘unavailable’ due to [her] region”.

“This sudden change has left me in a difficult situation, as I rely on Fiverr not just for extra income but for essential financial support,” Shahid lamented.

“For the past three years, I’ve been able to use Fiverr without any regional restrictions, so this sudden unavailability was both unexpected and disruptive,” she noted.

“The income from Fiverr wasn’t just extra cash; it was essential,” Shahid highlighted, calling the platform her “lifeline” as it was a means to cover her utility bills and education.

“The inability to access Fiverr could significantly impact my productivity and my ability to deliver services to clients, which in turn could harm my reputation and future opportunities,” the student said.

A Fiverr user from Islamabad stated in a private Facebook group that he received the notification, adding that it was an “automated measure by Fiverr every time there is a countrywide disruption”.

“You can easily manually turn it back on in two seconds. Everyone is just making a mountain out of a molehill,” he said.

“Fiverr does this so our response rate doesn’t drop if we don’t have the internet to make ourselves unavailable. For them, there won’t be disappointed clients that don’t hear back from potential sellers,” the user explained.

On the other hand, Saba Arshad from Faisalabad said she “did not get any such notification” on her Fiverr account.

‘Out-of-office mode’: Fiverr staffer

Separately, in response to a user’s query on Fiverr’s community platform, one of the company’s staffers posted a similar statement on Tuesday.

Lena, a Fiverr staffer, said: “We understand that there may be internet disruptions”.

“To make sure any unexpected order delays won’t hurt your seller ratings, we set Pakistani sellers into out-of-office mode,” Lena added.

“We’ll also make sure that any currently open orders that are unfulfilled won’t affect your ratings. Your account is fully operational and will continue to be,” the Fiverr staffer stated, clarifying that users themselves could revert their status to available.

Rights activists lament ‘unstable internet’, WhatsApp disruptions

Meanwhile, rights activists have also highlighted reported “slow and unstable” internet access and difficulties in downloading media files on WhatsApp, stressing that it would negatively impact businesses and students who rely heavily on internet access.

Farieha Aziz, co-founder of internet advocacy platform BoloBhi, said on X that the “reality is slow and unstable internet”.

“Downward spiral,” Aziz said as she criticised “money being poured into network filtering [and] harmful regulation and lawmaking in digital sphere”.

Lawyer Jibran Nasir called on media anchors to dedicate “one show in the spirit of Independence Day to discuss the impact of ongoing internet restrictions of different sectors of society and economy”.

Acknowledging that the “dangers of fake news are real and misinformation can be weaponised to instigate acts of violence”, Nasir stressed the need to “rationalise the measures we take for our security concerns”.

Renowned social activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir said “documents are not downloading on WhatsApp” as she criticised an advertisement at New York’s Times Square of an IT city by the ruling PML-N.

Ammar Rashid, a public policy researcher and Awami Workers Party member, also assailed the same advertisement: “Just incredible audacity.”

“Meanwhile, millions trying to meet deadlines to scrape a living back home can barely download a PDF because the regime’s hobbled the internet to silence criticism,” Rashid said.

Wardah Noor, founder of disaster relief organisation xWave, said she was scheduled to teach 1,500 students from all across Pakistan as she shared an undated screenshot of what she said were messages from a student.

“Ma’am, the internet is not working at all here. Only text messages are sent on WhatsApp. Neither any voice note plays nor any link opens,” the message said.

“I can’t figure out how to attend the class?” the purported student asked.

In another post on Tuesday, Noor said that “hundreds of our graduates are working with remote companies and earning in dollars to strengthen Pakistani economy but these recent internet outages [and] unannounced social media bans have disappointed us all”.

“No quality education can ever be accessible to the masses without the internet,” Noor asserted.